OK, regarding DAYS' budget. When DAYS was renewed in 2003, the budget was $1.7 million a week for production costs. However, the terms of the deal were renegotiated in 2006 and DAYS' budget was slashed to $1.3 million a week, so that can't be how much the show costs to produce per week now. I'm guessing it's now in the $900,000 - $1,000,000 range now - a HUGE blow for a show like DAYS.

Yeah, that Variety reporter seemed to be unaware of the re-negotiation in 2006. The latest cut takes $1.3 million as the base level, not $1.7 million.